Ever had to euthanize one? I probably should have euthanized my blue tetra but simply couldn't bring myself to do it.

Nope. I usually try to give them a chance as long as possible since I've had a few miraculously recover when they seemingly should have died.

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never got a pleco because i knew how much went into them before i had a tank large enough. *grin* my dream tank is a 150-200g with a pair of scarlet (ugly buggers arent they) plecos(L025), 6 discus, 20 or so oto cats or goby plecos(LDA25).... a dozen or so cory cats (not sure which yet) and 30 or so dither fish.

I don't think scarlets are ugly, I think they're one of the best looking ones. We had the chance to buy a very large one awhile back but decided we didn't need another big messy carnivore in our tank, plus it was ridiculously expensive (worth it if you're into plecos, but there were other fish we wanted).

I've never seen those little Botia kubotai loaches in person before, if I had I probably would have bought some since I'm collecting loaches . I do have some Botia striatas and a couple of yoyo loaches though, and of course my 11clown loaches. They did always remind me of dolphins too. It's funny how they go around "sniffing" other fish, and the other fish always seem to get kind of uncomfortable because I guess they don't know what they're doing lol. They have to smell and taste everything in case there's food, even other fish.

That zebra loach is cool!
I only have ONE clown loach in my 20g tank...I just read about them on that same site you just linked to and it showed HUGE ones! It also said they should be in at least groups of 5...Uh oh. Now that we've been discussing all this, I almost want to abandon the cichlid idea altogether and go for more tropicals! I could get 4 more clowns and transfer my current one into the larger tank, and get some gouramis...
What do you think? I don't actually have any cichlids yet, and there are so many cool possibilities...
Bird? Any thoughts on cichlids vs. tropicals?

Right now I only have 7 up. I had 11 or so but I took some down and traded for bigger tanks. When my husband gets back from work I'm gonna trade one of our 125g (it has an arowana, bullhead catfish and red devil cichlid in it) for a 220g since the owner of the pet store we frequent can't get the bigger tank out of his store. I guess he figures he can sell our 125 which is almost brand new easier than the 220 (it's been sitting there for months now) which no one has room for and we'll pay the rest eventually since he trusts us.

Anyway, right now I have up two 90g tanks (one saltwater), two 125g tanks (one has the loaches in it), a 65g, 29g and 20 long.

If you have a clown then yeah, he honestly should be with others. They're a shoaling fish, they're really not as comfortable alone. And yeah, they can get big, up to a foot long (sometimes more supposedly) but they grow slow. Eventually even a 65g is too small since they should be in groups. Think 125g and up.

But yeah if you're gonna transfer your clown to that other tank you might wanna go with something other than the cichlids. Gouramis would be a good choice.

My 10g is complete - 6 Kuhli loaches and a betta. Will post pics for you soon, w4r!

My 65g (the one with the oddly-behaving pleco - some weird stuff is going on. I decided against the cichlids, since I've always wanted some larger tropicals but never had the room. So I bought two baby clown loaches and three two-spot gouramis.

Status: One gourami died two days after purchase. Fish store has a good guarantee policy, as long as I bring the body in with my receipt. Unfortunately, the guy died Sunday evening, and the fish store isn't open until Tuesday, and I can't go until after work, so the poor little body has been locked in a tupperware bowl for two days. The other two seem to be okay for the moment - they kind of hide all the time, but they appear to be eating.

My pleco is feeling a little more at-ease, now that the clowns are in there. He's got a bit of a sore on his forehead - I think from trying so hard to hide under rocks last week. I'll have to keep an eye on it...maybe some extra water conditioner would help?

My two new loaches are attracting the cats big time! I fed them mid afternoon yesterday, and was alarmed because they didn't eat anything for the rest of the day...all they do is swim up and down in the corner of the tank, repeatedly, for hours! It's kind of weird, but the cats are mesmerized. Anyway, I woke up this morning and the shrimp pellets were all gone, so I'm thinking they may eat nocturnally and I should feed them after dark? What do you think?

Also, I think I'm going to replace the light bulbs, if I can. When the lights are on, EVERYONE hides, so I think they may be bad for them, even though I saw them in action with a huge herd of angelfish.

I really want to put my larger loach in there with his future best buddies, but with the death and everything, I just don't know if I should just yet.

My 10g is complete - 6 Kuhli loaches and a betta. Will post pics for you soon, w4r!

just keep up with WC's in there!! a 10g is a little small for the kuhlis but with good husbandry they should be fine. into adulthood you may want to put them in the 65g though. ive done a little reading up on them since we last talked about them.

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My 65g (the one with the oddly-behaving pleco - some weird stuff is going on. I decided against the cichlids, since I've always wanted some larger tropicals but never had the room. So I bought two baby clown loaches and three two-spot gouramis.

could i suggest some dither fish?? something that catches your fancy and schools midlevel like some smaller tetras or schooling rainbows (threadfins maybe??).

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Status: One gourami died two days after purchase. Fish store has a good guarantee policy, as long as I bring the body in with my receipt. Unfortunately, the guy died Sunday evening, and the fish store isn't open until Tuesday, and I can't go until after work, so the poor little body has been locked in a tupperware bowl for two days. The other two seem to be okay for the moment - they kind of hide all the time, but they appear to be eating.

thats unfortunate. how did you acclimatize them? do you know the stores tank pH compared to your pH? you should always try to find that out so you know how long to spend acclimatizing them. did they pack the gouramis together in the same bag?? you can keep your dead fish for return in alcohol and they wont smell so bad.

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My pleco is feeling a little more at-ease, now that the clowns are in there. He's got a bit of a sore on his forehead - I think from trying so hard to hide under rocks last week. I'll have to keep an eye on it...maybe some extra water conditioner would help?

do you have live plants? if not a little bit of aquarium salt will help. maybe 1tbs/10g?? some plants can handle low doses of salt. how well aerated is the tank? can you maybe put a bubble wand across the back to move the water around more?
also making sure he has good cover will make him feel more bold. if you can prop a piece of slate up or bash out the bottom (file down the rough edges with a rock??) of a terracotta pot thats big enough for him to squeeze in?

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My two new loaches are attracting the cats big time! I fed them mid afternoon yesterday, and was alarmed because they didn't eat anything for the rest of the day...all they do is swim up and down in the corner of the tank, repeatedly, for hours! It's kind of weird, but the cats are mesmerized. Anyway, I woke up this morning and the shrimp pellets were all gone, so I'm thinking they may eat nocturnally and I should feed them after dark? What do you think?

youre probably right but if you want to feed them and SEE them eat, keep offering the food while you give them face time (ie train them to associate your face with food).

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Also, I think I'm going to replace the light bulbs, if I can. When the lights are on, EVERYONE hides, so I think they may be bad for them, even though I saw them in action with a huge herd of angelfish.

how many watts are the bulbs? what kind of lights are they? incandescent? florescent? it would have to be an expensive set up for you to have lights that are too bright.

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I really want to put my larger loach in there with his future best buddies, but with the death and everything, I just don't know if I should just yet.

Any thoughts?

where is your bigger loach now? i may missing something.... i havent had my second cup of coffee yet. did any one eat off of the dead one?

could i suggest some dither fish?? something that catches your fancy and schools midlevel like some smaller tetras or schooling rainbows (threadfins maybe??).

I'm really into platys right now, my local shop has tons of them. I was thinking I would fill my 20g with different platys plus my little pleco. If I do that, I can switch my 2 zebra danios into the 65 as dither fish and add some more. It's hard to find really cool danios, I think I'll have to go to a different store to find them. Not looking forward to switching the danios - they are SO hard to catch! I have one loonie (that's a 1$ coin here, lol) sized pink tetra left, not really sure what to do with him.

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Originally Posted by want4rain

thats unfortunate. how did you acclimatize them? do you know the stores tank pH compared to your pH? you should always try to find that out so you know how long to spend acclimatizing them. did they pack the gouramis together in the same bag?? you can keep your dead fish for return in alcohol and they wont smell so bad.

The G's were in the same bag. Not sure what their ph was, but I got my water tested when I brought back the dead soldier and they said my quality was perfect. I acclimatized the way I usually do - let the bag sit in the water for a half hour or so, then open it and let in some of the tank water for a bit, then dump the whole thing. I've NEVER had a fish die two days into my care before. This is, however, the first time I didn't cry when I saw a dead guy. Maybe cause I didn't have to flush him...that's the worst part. Such an uncivilized way to go.

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Originally Posted by want4rain

do you have live plants? if not a little bit of aquarium salt will help. maybe 1tbs/10g?? some plants can handle low doses of salt. how well aerated is the tank? can you maybe put a bubble wand across the back to move the water around more?

I have a device that swirls the water around on the surface - remember I was asking if anyone knew what it was because I thought I got ripped off when it stopped working? It works now, I just took it apart and cleaned the impeller. I don't have any live plants. I'm wary of salt - will it hurt the loaches or gouramis?

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Originally Posted by want4rain

also making sure he has good cover will make him feel more bold. if you can prop a piece of slate up or bash out the bottom (file down the rough edges with a rock??) of a terracotta pot thats big enough for him to squeeze in?

That'ts a good idea, I'll try that. Will I need to boil the pot first?

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Originally Posted by want4rain

how many watts are the bulbs? what kind of lights are they? incandescent? florescent? it would have to be an expensive set up for you to have lights that are too bright.

I really have no idea except that they are really good for live plants, which the previous owner had TONS of. I'll have to check the wattage. Although, in the last day or so, they've not seemed to mind the light so much.

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Originally Posted by want4rain

where is your bigger loach now? i may missing something.... i havent had my second cup of coffee yet. did any one eat off of the dead one?

He's in the 20g. I bought him for my birthday. I don't think anyone ate anything off the dead guy - he was swirling around the top of the tank for quite some time and looked like he was still in good shape. Since the water test came out perfect, I think I'll move him tonight.

So I moved my large clown loach into the bigger tank - it was difficult. He flipped out of the net at the wrong time and ended up on the floor. He flopped around for a few seconds before I got him into the tupperware I was going to use to acclimatise him, and made it to the larger tank, but I didn't get to acclimatise him properly and he was breathing funny for awhile. Seems okay now. The two baby clowns have found him and the swim around in a herd, he seems in good spirits, he's already chasing the gouramis. I put some extra water conditioner in to help his natural slime...I hope he'll be okay. He's my fave.

i wouldnt use a 'water conditioner' as all it does is irritate their skin/scales to create a thicker slime coat. i dont think there is a single fish that cant handle 1tbs/10g of salt and quite a few that will benefit from it used regularly. clown loaches apparently are one of them!! they are of a family of fish that are considered 'scaleless'. ive kept loaches and used salt with them as an ICH treatment (2tbs/5g) and they were fine but im not sure of the long term use. there is quite a bit of literature on treating them with salt for ICH but very little on keeping them in a brackish or low end brackish system... although a great deal about them venturing into near SW conditions through out their life.
platies do considerably better with hard water and roughly 2-4tbs/10g of salt in their water although they adapt quite well to purely freshwater.

i like www.wetwebmedia.com for most of the information on fish although i try to use most of the sources i find. if i had to make a suggestion, put the pleco in with the loaches in the 65g and keep a real close eye on the water parameters. if it looks like your nitrates are manageable (ie under 40ppm at the end of the week, resolved down to 20ppm after WC) then see abotu adding a few platies. ive only had smaller tanks, nor have i ever kept a pleco or clowns but a few clowns and a pleco seems like a lot for a 65g. BUT neither species should be kept in anything under a 45g.

if i had to make a harder suggestion, take the laoches back and get some smaller ones. the loaches ive kept are quite silly little guys and they dont even get a fraction of the size a clown does. yoyo loaches, blue skunk, zebra loaches all stay small also.

oh and one last thing, it is dangerous to net loaches or plecos. they have spines all over the place that can get stuck in the net and become damaged. i prefer to use cups or... well in your case BUCKETS to catch them in. also ive known some serious pleco people who have found their plecos half dried up behind the tank that survived. moral of the story?? fish are amazing creatures!! just keep up with the water changes to keep the water perfect, your loach should heal just fine.

if i had to make a harder suggestion, take the laoches back and get some smaller ones. the loaches ive kept are quite silly little guys and they dont even get a fraction of the size a clown does. yoyo loaches, blue skunk, zebra loaches all stay small also.

You run into the problem of someone buying them for an even smaller tank when taking them back.
Clown loaches take an awfully long time to grow, so they won't outgrow a 65g for years. Once they reach several inches they go for LOTS of money ($60 for 5 in. isn't a bad price, larger than that it goes up even more since large loaches are very uncommon - you can be looking at hundreds of dollars for a fully mature adult), so in this case I'd recommend keeping them and finding an actual collector to take them if you fear them outgrowing the tank.

Well a 20g wouldn't last long enough for me to recommend that, especially a tall, lol.

A 65g will last quite awhile, though a 75g would really be a better growout.

The main thing with them is overall they're not as hardy as the yoyos and such, so you really really have to keep up on water changes with them and not let the nitrates get too high. They're also happier the larger the shoal, so though 5 is an ok number, many more would be better. The larger the tank the better because then you can have a proper shoal.

I have had two plecos in my life...one lived in a 10 gal tank for 8 yrs and the other started in said 10 gal tank and now has a 25 gal tank-still lives there after 6 yrs. Both were/are the black ones that start tiny and grow to be HUGE! The last one was 5.5" and this one is 7".

Here is what is confusing...

I have never fed them anything other than regular tropical food and whatever they get off the tank...both float/ed on their backs as I dropped food into their mouths...the last one would let me rub his belly, but this one doesn't...now if I start feeding it veggies and whatnot, is it going to start growing even bigger?!? Should I start or will that affect his health since he is used to this diet? He seems very active and colouring seems good...nice fins etc...better to leave well enough alone? What are the benefits?

I recently put a zucchini chunk in my tank, and I took it out half a day later and it had barely been nipped. And I don't think it was even by the pleco.
That's really cool that your pleco is so friendly...Mine is still very antisocial. Also, quite interesting that your only grew that many inches in that many years...Mine is now about 9 inches from tip to tip and I've only had him about a year, maybe less, and I got him when he was tiny. Been feeding him veggie/algae wafers, and I guess he eats whatever's left over in the tank.

I would say don't bother changing your pleco's diet if he's been fine for 6 years and is so friendly and social toward you...sounds like he's quite content with what he's got.